Advice for camp counselors and other camp staff

What Makes Camp Special

There are lots of different features that are specific to your own camp. These could be little things, ways of lining up, a weekly show or the music played between activity periods… if any are played at all!

At my camp, for example, at the end of every meal the Program Director gives out announcements about what is happening in the day. To get all the camper’s attention, he crouches down, while everyone bangs on the table, and then they all shout something out, and he calls back at them. After the announcements, he will choose which table to go first and second.

This is a very poor description, but makes my point: how exactly do you tell the people around you (or even people from other camps!) all the little things that make your camp special. They are usually mundane, tiny things that happen every day, but make it a unique special place to be in. How exactly can you tell the people back home about your summer?

I think my ineloquence here highlights my point, that it is difficult to fully describe your camp experience, because — regardless of whether a day or overnight camp — it is such a huge all encompassing experience, and as such is like trying to describe an eight week holiday or traveling excursion: either way it usually involves taking lots of photos!